USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Hyman's Handbook of Indianapolis : an outline history and description of the capital of Indiana, with over three hundred illustrations from photographs made expressly for this work (1897) > Part 2
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and Douglass Maguire were the two adventurous citizens who undertook the work of guiding so important an enterprise. This was now the third year of the town, and the second since it had been given its high sounding name, but the election in August disclosed the fact that its growth during the last year had been very limited. In August, 1822, at the election for governor the county had polled 317 votes, and at the election in 1823 only 270. It was an "off" year, and that may account for the falling off of the vote.
WHITE RIVER NEAR BROAD RIPPLE.
Having a representative in the legislature, the town began to prepare for the advent of the capital, and a new tavern was built by Thomas Carter. It was now a rival of Hawkins' tavern that had first opened out its doors for the "entertainment of man and beast." It became celebrated as being the place of the exhi- bition of the first show ever given in Indianapolis. It was given on the last night of the year 1823, the bill being "The Doctor's Courtship, or the Indulgent Father," and the farce of the "Jealous Lovers." The admission was thirty-seven and a half
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cents. One lone fiddle made up the orchestra, and by the orders of Mr. Carter, owner of the tavern, only hymn tunes were played during the performance.
The town had not recovered from the blow it had received by the sickness among the settlers in 1821. The fame of that hard year had gone abroad throughout the state, and it looked as if nobody wanted to come to a town where at one time every- body was sick. The first one of the settlers to die was Daniel Shaffer, the first merchant of the town, and twenty or twenty- five deaths in a single season in a settlement of only four or five hundred was rather appalling, and the rival towns in the state made the most they could in spreading abroad this evil name, but the settlers generally stuck to their new town, only moving further away from the river. The "old graveyard," however, had got a pretty good start.
In those early days the prices of what are now called the necessaries of life were very high. Coffee sold at fifty cents a pound, tea at two dollars, corn one dollar a bushel, flour five dollars per hundred, and coarse muslin at forty-five cents a yard. The nearest grist-mill was on Whitewater, sixty miles distant. This was not to remain so always, and a run or two of stone was soon added to the saw-mill and the farmers around could get their corn and wheat ground nearer home, and a keel boat or two were forced up the river bringing supplies, mostly whisky and salt, and by thus cutting freight rates over the pack-horse line reduced prices somewhat. A school had also been started in 1821, but its teacher was shortly afterward elected recorder of the county and the school suspended temporarily.
The morals of the community were not neglected. In the first settlement of this country by the French the missionaries were in advance of the white immigrants, and when the advent- urous pioneer would reach a point he almost invariably found the missionary there preaching to the Indians. When the coun- try was wrested from the French the order was changed some- what, but it was never very long after the hardy pioneer had
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EAST WASHINGTON STREET, 1862.
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HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
erected his cabin, until the "itinerant circuit rider" was knock- ing at his door with his bible and hymn-book in hand. It has never been definitely settled who preached the first sermon in Indianapolis, the honor lying between John McClung, a preacher of the New Light school, and Rezin Hammond, a Methodist. They both preached here in the fall of 1821, and it is not par- ticularly important as to which came first. They were both very devout men and earnest preachers of the word. They were soon followed by Rev. Ludlow G. Haines, a Presbyterian. The
VIEW IN WOODRUFF PLACE.
Presbyterians organized the first church, and in 1823 began the erection of a house for worship on Pennsylvania street opposite where the Denison hotel now stands. It was completed the following year at the cost of $1,200.
The Indianapolis circuit of the Methodist denomination was organized in 1822, under the charge of Rev. William Cravens, but Rev. James Scott had preached here before that and held one or two camp-meetings. The Methodists did not begin the erection of a church building right away, but in 1823 purchased a hewed log house on Maryland street near Meridian, to be used
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for religious meetings. The Baptists organized a society in 1822, and held meetings at different places until 1829 when they erected a church. By this it will be seen that before the town had grown very large, or had the time to get very wicked, four denominations were here to look after its morals.
Not long after the school of Joseph C. Reed suspended on his being elevated to the office of recorder of the county, a meeting of the citizens was called to make arrangements for a permanent school. Mr. Reed's school-house had been at the intersection of Kentucky avenue and Illinois street. Arrange- ments were made with a Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence to open out a school and keep it going. There were no free schools then maintained by public tax, but thus, soon after its first settlement, Indianapolis laid the foundation of an educational system that has since made it the envy of many a larger city.
From churches and schools to courts is not a very long step, especially as marriages are usually solemnized by preachers, and divorces granted by the courts. Soon after the introduc- tion of preachers the court was called upon to divorce a couple who had been unhappily mated. Elias Stallcup and his wife Ruth Stallcup were the first to be divorced by the courts of Ma- rion county. This was before the county had a court-house of its own. The divorce was granted in 1823. In those days litigation was not very abundant, and crime, except the unli- censed selling of liquor, or an occasional assault and battery, was unheard of, so the courts did not have a great deal of work to do.
As said before, the board of county commissioners, as soon it was organized, set about the work of contracting for the erec- tion of a court-house, and after it was completed it was for many years used for about everything. Concerts, shows, meetings of the citizens, lectures, political speakings, conventions, religious meetings and the legislature all took their turn, and, so far as the record shows, nobody paid any rent. The commissioners also interested themselves in paternally administering the affairs
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of the new community. They regulated the prices to be charged for toll on the only ferry, and then made a schedule for tavern charges. The price of whisky was fixed at twelve and a half cents per half pint ; and of imported rum, brandy, gin or wine twenty-five cents were allowed to be charged for each half pint ; peach and apple brandies were rated at eighteen and a half cents per half pint. Taverns were allowed to charge twenty-five cents for each meal and twelve and a half cents for lodging. There have been some changes in the prices since those pioncer days.
VIEW IN WOODRUFF PLACE.
In the early years of Indianapolis the county grew faster than the town and the ax of the sturdy woodman was heard in every direction opening up new farms for cultivation, and it was not long until more wheat and corn were raised than could readily be disposed of, as there was no place to market the surplus. The farmers began to turn their attention to raising hogs as they could be made to move themselves to market, and for some years hogs were the chief product of the farmers in all this sec- tion of the state.
At the meeting of the legislature in January, 1824, the final
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HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
order was made for the removal of the capital to Indianapolis, and this gave an impetus to the town and more emigrants be- gan to flock in. In the meantime the scare arising from the bad health reports of 1821 had measurably died out, and were forgotten. The removal was to be made by the tenth of Janu- ary, 1825, and the next legislature was to assemble in the court- house of Marion county. When Marion county's representa- tives to the legislature returned home from the session of 1824, they were given a grand reception at Washington Hall, which was then the great tavern of the city, and many speeches were made much after the order of those now indulged in on similar occasions. In November of that year, State Treasurer Samuel Merrill set out on his journey to the new capital with the ar- chives of the state, in a large two-horse wagon. It was a slow journey over the hills and through the woods, a dozen miles a day being all that could be accomplished, and that by the hard- est effort. By the end of November the state was settled in its new quarters, and the meeting of the first legislature was impa- tiently waited for.
It would not have been a typical American settlement had not politics played a prominent part. 1824 was the year of the great presidential contest between Clay, Adams and Jackson. Party names were not known in those days, but the people were divided off into "Clay men," "Jackson men," and "Adams men." At that time Indiana was very largely settled from Kentucky, and Kentuckians, as a rule, were loyal to the gallant Harry. When the vote was counted in November it was found that Clay had received 217 votes, Jackson 99 and Adams 16.
When the members of the legislature came to the new capital in 1825 they found it a straggling village with only one street "cleared," and that was still full of stumps. It was a town in the mud, hard to get to, and almost impossible to move around in after once reached. But it was the capital, the state officers were here, and the "donation" of the general government had been accepted, and they had to make the best of it. It was a
cr
AL MORTON
PACKET GOVERNOR MORTON ON WHITE RIVER, 1865.
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HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
dreary winter, though, here in the deep woods, with the houses scattered around over a mile square, with only cow tracks through the woods from one to the other. The three taverns were the center of interest in the evenings, and around the huge fires in their "bar rooms" the legislators and the citizens gathered to discuss matters of state. During the session one of the taverns, Carter's, was destroyed by fire. Some efforts were made by the legislature to improve the town, and fifty dollars were appro- priated to clean out Pogue's run, so as to cut off some of its malaria-breeding powers. The outlying portions of the dona-
HENDRICKS MONUMENT.
tion were also ordered sold or leased in four-acre tracts to en- courage farming. 1493866
The coming of the legislature did not add greatly to the permanent growth of the town, for in February, 1826, the pop- ulation consisted of seven hundred and sixty-two souls, of whom two hundred and nine were children. But the town did begin to show signs of permanency and several societies were organ- ized, among them being the Indianapolis Bible Society, which is still in existence. An agricultural society was also organized, but it did not last long. The United States land office was re-
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moved to Indianapolis from Brookville, and thus the future great city was recognized by the federal government. Indian depre- dations had ceased, but the military spirit was strong, and an artillery company was formed with James Blake as captain. The government furnished the company with one cannon of small caliber, but it was big enough to make a noise on the fourth of July, and that was all the use it was ever put to. The burning of Carter's tavern demonstrated the necessity of a fire company, and as the town was too poor to buy an engine a bucket and ladder company was organized, which did service for ten years until the first fire engine was purchased. In Au- gust of that year the news reached Indianapolis that on the fourth of July previous John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two of the fathers of American independence, had died, and a public meet- ing was held in the court-house, to give due utterance to the feelings of the community. B. F. Morris and Douglass Maguire pronounced eulogies on the deceased.
The spirit of enterprise that had been slowly festering among the people began to show some headway early in 1827, and demonstrated that there were three men, at least, who had faith in the new capital. They were James M. Ray, James Blake and Nicholas McCarty. Through their efforts the legislature ordered the sale of seven acres of land fronting on the river, for milling purposes, and a company was organized to carry on the enterprise. It took two years, however, to get the stock sub- scriptions, and in 1831 the work of building was begun. It was to comprise a steam saw, grist and woolen mill, and a very pre- tentious structure was erected. The boilers and machinery were hauled overland from Cincinnati, taking some weeks in their
transportation. This was the introduction of steam as a power into the city, but the speculation did not pay, as there was little demand for lumber, and it cost too much to transport the flour to market. In 1835 the speculation was abandoned and the machinery offered for sale, but it found no buyers, and was left to rust itself away. In 1847 the Geisendorffs undertook to use
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the machinery and building for carding and spinning wool, but after trying it for five years, they in turn abandoned it, and the next year it was destroyed by fire. It had long been a rendez- vous for thieves, prostitutes and other vicious characters.
The same year the legislature attempted to build a residence for the governor. In the original laying off of the town the circle in the center of the plat was intended for such a structure, and so designated, but up to this time no provision had been made for its building. The governors had been living around
MORTON MONUMENT.
wherever they could find a house, and houses suitable for the residence of the chief magistrate of the state were hard to find." One of the first acts of the legislature in 1827 was to appropriate $4,000 to build a governor's house on the circle, and work began by enclosing the circle with a rail fence. Under this appropria- tion a building was begun, but it was never finished. It was rather elaborate in design, square in form, two stories high and a large attic. It had a semi-basement. The building was com- pleted far enough to be used for public offices, and was turned over for that purpose. It 1859 it was sold at auction and torn
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down. Since then the circle has had a varied experience. It was made a park, but was used as a cow pasture until the trees and grass were ruined. It was then enclosed by a fence and again set out in trees, and about the time it was once more be- ginning to look like a park, the trees were cleared off, and the grand monument to the soldiers and sailors now occupies the space.
The governors were still left to hunt homes for themselves, until 1839, when the legislature ordered the state officers to pur- chase a suitable building for such a residence. At that time the handsomest and largest dwelling in the city was on the north- west corner of Illinois and Market streets. It was owned by Dr. John H. Sanders, and the state officers decided upon it, and it was bought. Governor Wallace moved into it, and it was oc- cupied in turn by Governors Bigger, Whitcomb, Wright, Wil- lard and Morton. From some cause it had always been an un- healthy building. The wife of Governor Whitcomb was the first to die there. Governor Wright, during his occupancy, lost two wives in the same building. The family of Governor Willard was sick during the whole time he occupied it, and Governor Morton suffered so much that he finally abandoned it. It was sold in 1865. and since then the state has owned no executive mansion.
By this time the educational demands of the people of the growing town induced the legislature to set apart a square of ground to be known as "University" square, upon which it was intended sometime in the future to erect buildings for a univer- sity. No effort was made to utilize it for educational purposes until 1832, when a part of it was leased for a county seminary. It was afterward used by the city for a high-school for a number of years.
The growth of the town was very slow for some years. The building of the National road gave it a slight impetus and brought here the first and only steamboat that ever succeeded in navigating White river to this point. It rejoiced in the name
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OLD STATE-HOUSE, IS65.
FROM PHOTOGRAPHI TAKEN THE DAY LINCOLN'S BODY LAY IN STATE.
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of "Robert Hanna," and was owned by General Hanna, one of the contractors building the new road for the government. It was brought here to tow barges loaded with stone and timber for use in constructing the road and its bridges. It arrived here on the eleventh of April, 1831. All the people turned out to welcome this wonder, and Captain Blythe, with his artillery company, saluted it with several rounds from his one cannon. The next day a free excursion was given to the citizens, but the overhanging boughs of the trees lining the banks knocked down her chimneys and pilot-house and smashed a wheel-house. The
JEEFE
AFFF
COLUMBIA CLUB.
next day she ran aground and remained fast several weeks. When the high water came in the fall she took her way down the river and was never seen in this latitude again. Many years afterward a little steamer named after Governor Morton was built here to ply up and down for the amusement and entertain- ment of the people, but it had bad luck, and was soon destroyed. Even keel-boats and flat-boats early abandoned all efforts to navigate the stream which Mr. Ralston had declared to be navi- gable for at least four months in the year.
Governor Noble, however, would not give up his hopes that
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the river would prove navigable, and offered a reward of $200 for the first boat that would land at the town. Two efforts were made, and one steamer reached Spencer and another came a few miles further. A plan for slack water navigation was sub- mitted to the legislature and pressed for several years, and in 185 1 the White River Navigation Company was chartered, but it accomplished nothing.
About this time the town thought it was old enough to have a historical society, so one was formed, with Benjamin Parke for president, and B. F. Morris for secretary. It did not have many active members, but elected about all the distin- guished men of the nation as honorary members. The organi- zation of the society was preceded by the arrival of the first menagerie that ever exhibited its wild animals to the people of the Hoosier capital.
The craze for internal improvements, that had been sweeping over other parts of the country, struck Indianapolis early in 1831, and the legislature spent most of its session in granting charters to railroads. Six such roads were projected, to center in Indi- anapolis. The country was new and sparsely settled, but the wise men of the legislature thought it would be a profitable thing to build roads paralleling each other, and only a few miles apart. The roads were all to run to the south as there was no population to the north. Some of the projected roads were partly surveyed and then the work was dropped. A few years later, however, the state entered upon a wholesale system of in- ternal improvement, including railroads, canals and turnpikes. None of the projected works were ever fully completed by the state, but the state debt was increased enormously, and the state had to practically go into bankruptcy. This was a great blow to Indianapolis, and retarded its growth very materially. The state sold out its interest in all the works, together with 2,000,- 000 acres of land, in discharge of half of the debt that had been contracted.
The state had been occupying the court-house for the use of
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the legislature, and in making its appropriation to erect that building had reserved the right to so occupy it for fifty years, but it was deemed the time had come to erect a building for the use of the state. It still owned a considerable portion of the original donation by congress, and it was estimated that the lots would sell for $58,000, and this was deemed sufficient to erect a suitable building. Ithiel Town was the architect and con- tracted to build the house for $58,000, and actually did com- plete it for $60,000. It was begun in 1832 and finished in time
COUNTRY CLUB.
for the meeting of the legislature in 1836, or two years ahead of time. For those days it was an elegant public building, though the style of architecture was a little mixed; but it served the state for forty years.
The year 1832 brought with it the news of the Black Hawk war, and three hundred of the state militia were called out, and rendezvoused in a grove on West Washington street. Alexan- der W. Russell was the colonel, and J. P. Drake, J. W. Red- ding, and Henry Brenton, captains. John L. Kinnard, the ad- jutant, was afterward elected to congress, but on his way to
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Washington to attend the second session was killed in a steam- boat explosion on the Ohio river. The war ended before they got further toward the scene of conflict than Chicago. On their departure they were surrounded by the whole population, and in firing a salute, William Warren, one of the cannoneers, had both arms blown off.
The town had grown enough to need a new market house and several meetings of the citizens were held to devise ways and means to secure one, which finally culminated in the build- ing of one the following year. A foundry was also started by R. A. McPherson, it being the first effort toward the introduc- tion of manufacturing industries, and was the forerunner of what Indianapolis is to-day. In 1838 John Wood established a steam foundry on Pennsylvania street, north of University square. It was operated for many years.
In 1832 Indianapolis had about 1,000 inhabitants, and as it was the capital of the state it was deemed right and proper that it should have some municipal government of its own. Up to that time it had been acting under state laws, and as an unruly element was beginning to find a lodgment it was conceived that town ordinances and town officers would be more efficient in keeping the peace and dignity of the community than the 'squires and constables. The general laws of the state provided for the incorporation of towns, and on the 3d of September, 1832, the citizens took the first step toward incorporation. Five trustees were elected, and Samuel Henderson, who had been the first regularly appointed postmaster of the town, was ap- pointed president of the board, with J. P. Griffith clerk, and Samuel Jennison marshal and collector. This municipal gov- ernment lasted until 1836, when the legislature granted a special charter. About the only notable thing the old municipality did was to purchase the first fire engine for the town, the state giv- ing one-half of the price. The organization had lasted four years, and the entire income of the fourth year was only $1,510. The new organization went zealously to work to enact ordi-
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THE INDIANAPOLIS NATIONAL BANK
BAKERY
WASHINGTON STREET DURING EPIZOOTIC EPIDEMIC, 1872.
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HYMAN'S HANDBOOK OF INDIANAPOLIS.
nances for the suppression of vice and disorder, and there was urgent demand for this action.
The building of the National road and the other improve- ments carried on by the state had brought into the town a large number of wild, reckless and dangerous men. Not all of them were wholly vicious, but when filled with whisky they were reck- less and oftentimes dangerous. So the new municipality found its hands full. The roughs were organized into a band and were commonly known as the "chain gang." A year or two after
ROYAL
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TM& #STATE
POST-OFFICE BUILDING.
the new municipality went into power the "chain gang" was at its height as a disturber of the peace. They were loafers and generally idle, doing odd jobs occasionally of digging cellars and wells and moving houses, receiving therefor money enough to keep themselves well supplied with whisky. At that time there were but very few colored people in the town Against these the "chain gang" entertained a most intense hatred. The leader of the negroes was an old man by the name of Overall. Several collisions had taken place between the "chain gang"
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and the negroes. At last the white toughs resolved on cleaning out the negro settlement. Old man Overall was notified of this intention and of the night on which the attack was to take place. He called in his colored friends, barricaded the doors and windows of his cabin and loaded his guns. When the at- tack came the "chain gang" encountered a defeat that taught them a much needed lesson.
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